Student Robbed Near Site of Peace Meeting

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A Chicago student was mugged at gunpoint Sunday near the college campus where Mayor Rahm Emanuel is hosting the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates.

The University of Illinois at Chicago issued a campus alert Tuesday following the 3:15 a.m. mugging in the 1000 block of South Loomis Street, several blocks from the school.

The student said he was approached by a group of five men, according to the alert. One man asked to borrow money, and when the student said he didn't have any, a man placed a handgun to the victim's head and demanded his wallet.

The man went through the student's pockets and took his wallet and iPhone before fleeing. The student was not injured.

Laureates to Students: Make a Difference

A day later, former U.S president Jimmy Carter, former Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev and former Republic of Poland president Lech Walesa were in Chicago at UIC for the start of the three-day world summit.

They said Monday that poverty, a lack of education and arms proliferation present daunting obstacles, but peace can be achieved if world leaders are more willing to talk and young people are encouraged to get involved.

"We need to be reminded of the standards that the Nobel laureates have always tried to achieve ... just because in their own communities they saw a need for change," Carter said.

Emanuel Touts Chicago Nobel Laureates, Compliments Gorbachev

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is joined by former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev and actor and activist Sean Penn to speak with students at Frederick Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center as part of the summit.

(Published Monday, April 23, 2012)

In a separate incident last week a UIC student was struck on the head and left unconscious during a robbery near campus. The student told police an offender approached him from behind, placed an unknown object at the back of his head and demanded money.

Anyone with information about the latest incident is asked to call UIC Police at 312-996-2830. One of the offenders was described as a black male, age 18 to 25, standing about 5-feet-10 and weighing 170 to 190 pounds. His hair was in dreadlocks, and he wore a gray hat, black jacket, blue jeans. Police said he was armed with a blue steel semi-automatic pistol.